Coffee with a Founder

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, host Beck Bamberger sits down with Perry Bakas , co-founder and CEO of Oxylus Energy . Perry opens up about how becoming a parent has sharpened his focus and intuition as a founder. He also shares his journey from mechanical engineering to startup leadership, and recounts the gritty reality of bootstrapping Oxylus by road-tripping to 40+ pitch competitions...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Ben Kellie , Co-Founder and CEO of Applied Atomics . Broadcasting from Alaska—a rare location for venture-backed founders—Ben shares his journey from SpaceX engineer to tackling the challenges of nuclear power deployment. The conversation dives deep into Ben's philosophy on minimizing unnecessary miracles in technology and the...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, host Beck Bamberger sits down with Matt Pavelle , Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Doctronic . With a groundbreaking 99.2% alignment rate with clinicians on treatment plans, Doctronic is quickly becoming the go-to "AI doctor" trusted across the healthcare and tech industry. Tune in for a founder interview that dives deep into the journey of building a venture-back...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Aaron Sekhri , founder and CEO of Le Walk , to talk about building for the next generation of travelers. They delve into how Le Walk combines human-led tours with AI-powered personalization, why content-led growth has been crucial to scaling, and how the brand encourages people to look up instead of down. Aaron also shares sma...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Ryan Duitch , founder and CEO of Arro , to unpack one of America's toughest financial challenges: fair access to credit. Together they explore the psychology of venture-backed founders, the grind of scaling a fintech startup, and the rare moments of clarity that keep entrepreneurs pushing through problems that never really end...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger chats with Scott Meyer , co-founder of Chipp. AI , on making AI agents accessible to everyone. Scott shares his path from city council member to serial founder, and what building startups outside major tech hubs has taught him about growth, balance, and community.  

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger welcomes Jo Phillips and Will Corbera, co-founders and co-CEOs of Payabli. You'll hear why "running to the fire" is one of their core values, how they approach leadership in a remote world, and what motivates each personally as they navigate the ups and downs of startup life.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Shane Emmons, founder and CEO of Swept. AI, to unpack what it takes to build a trust platform for AI. From the high-stakes world of healthcare to the unforgiving terrain of finance, Shane breaks down the real-world challenges of deploying intelligent agents in industries where failure isn't an option.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Bianca Lê , Head of Special Projects and External Affairs at Mission Barns and founder of Cellular Agriculture Australia. They discuss how technology and science are transforming food through cellular agriculture, and how Mission Barns became the first cultivated meat company to launch in global retail, expanding beyond food i...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Ross Finman , Founder and CEO of Augmodo . From growing up on a llama farm in Idaho (yes, really!) to working at MIT, NASA, and SpaceX, Ross shares his journey to launching a retail-focused company using spatial AI and wearable technology to reinvent how stores operate.  

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Tobias Pohl , Co-Founder and CEO of Celus . Together, they dive into the massive complexity of electronic component selection, the challenges of building technology in a space dominated by tradition, and the stubborn determination required to turn "impossible" ideas into reality.  

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger chats with Nick Ornitz , Co-Founder and CEO of Topline Pro — fresh off a $27M Series B. Joining live from Brooklyn, Nick shares how their core value of "no bullshit" drives everything from company culture to customer success. And yes, they're hiring.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Julia Rodgers , Founder and CEO of HelloPrenup . Together, they dive into the changing attitudes toward prenups and how her company can make legal processes easier, faster, and more affordable. Just don't use AI to write one.  

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Sami Shalabi , Co-founder and CTO of Maven AGI . Together, they unpack the staggering costs of traditional customer experience, the untapped potential of AI agents when engineers share product responsibility with UX teams, and why change management trips up even the best organizations.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Jeff Glueck, Co-founder and CEO of Salvo Health, to explore how virtual care is redefining medicine. After losing a child and facing unanswered questions from traditional medicine, Jeff vowed to use his founder instincts to reimagine healthcare, integrating environmental factors, behavioral science, and data-driven insights in...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder,  Beck Bamberger sits down with Lark Meadow , Co-Founder and CEO of Aeon Blue . Their conversation explores Lark's unconventional path from leading a gender rights organization in Hollywood to teaming up with her brother, a renewable energy scientist, to develop transformative electrochemistry technology.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger chats with Dr. James Crowell , Founder and CEO of Crow Industries , about his lifelong dream to industrialize the moon and Mars, and the intersection between futuristic ambition and real-world business grit. Whether you're a founder, a space enthusiast, or fascinated by defense tech, this conversation is for you.  

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger chats with Christoph Jenny , CEO of Planted , about what it takes to build alternative meat that leads on both taste and impact. Joining us from Switzerland, Christoph shares his journey of scaling across Central Europe, winning over die-hard vegans and curious carnivores, and the product development and market research driving it all.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger chats with Surojit Chatterjee, co-founder and CEO of Ema Unlimited Inc., about why AI agents are more than just chatbots and what it means to trade comfort for the chance to eliminate "soul-crushing" work, empowering people to focus on creativity and purpose.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Simon Wijckmans of c/side to talk about making the internet safe and secure enough for our grandparents, navigating compliance headaches, and exploring how building a mission-driven team not only fuels motivation but also makes the journey fun.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger chats with Priyaa Kalyanaraman , Co-Founder and CEO of Lica World , about becoming one of the first viral vibe coders, democratizing visual storytelling, and how AI is reshaping creative industries. All while unpacking the difference between building a product and building a company.

On today's episode, Beck Bamberger sits down with one of our favorite BAM clients. Ben Allen , Co-Founder and Business Development Officer of GreenLite . Ben shares how GreenLite helps landlords, companies, and franchises cut costs by reducing construction permitting delays and accelerating what Ben calls the three R's: Revenues, Rents, and Royalties.

On today's episode, Beck sits down with Philip Merrick, CEO of pgEdge, for an honest conversation about the importance of working with people you enjoy. Together, they discuss everything from the slow-burning evolution of technology to AI to speeding up data access across the globe. 

On today's episode, Beck Bamberger sits down with Drew Mercer , Co-Founder and CEO of PayGround. Drew shares how his cancer diagnosis and the birth of his third child threw him into a whirlwind of medical bills, and how that chaos sparked the idea for PayGround. They also discuss why hustle and humility, not just expertise, can truly make a difference in startup life.  

On today's episode, Beck Bamberger sits down with Mason Mincey , Co-Founder and COO of Soarce . If you've ever wondered how plant waste can be transformed into materials eight times stronger than steel or what it's like to scale a hardware company at hyperspeed, you're in the right place. From material science breakthroughs to the gritty realities of manufacturing in the U.S., Mason shares how Soa...